The grand prize of mountaineering is Everest, for obvious reasons. It’s not the most difficult or dangerous mountain, but it invites the adventurous to stand at the junction of earth and sky, with the ultimate panoramic horizon. Mount Everest was first recorded in the Atlas of the Whole Imperial Territory as Qomolangma, its Tibetan name, in 1719. It was discovered to be the world’s tallest mountain in 1856 and named after George Everest, head of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India.
It was in 1924 that George Mallory and Andrew Irvine got near – or perhaps reached – the summit on a third attempt, but never make it back down. It wasn’t until 1953 when Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary reached the summit to claim the prize of first to conquer the peak. My fascination with Mallory began as a teenager when I came across an epic story: The Fight for Everest, the account of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine’s 1924 expedition, when they disappeared near the summit, giving rise to folklore as to whether they had reached the top of the world.
As I started to read The Fight for Everest, it’s black-and-white photographs and fold-out maps captured my imagination. The images rushed over me, I could see the distant white peaks, snowstorms approaching and the climbers the sheer brutal physicality of effort coming to life. I marked the passage of the book that etched an enduring memory, the description by Noel Odell, the expedition geologist, of his last sighting of Mallory and Irvine, 800ft from the summit on June 9, 1924:
There was a sudden clearing of the atmosphere above me, and I saw the whole summit ridge and final peak of Everest unveiled. I noticed far away on a snow slope leading up to what seemed to me to be the last step but one from the base of the final pyramid, a tiny object moving and approaching the rock step. A second object followed, and then the first climbed to the top of the step. As I stood intently watching this dramatic appearance, the scene became enveloped in cloud…
Over and over I’ve read that passage, two tiny dots, fighting for survival in the thin, icy air, unfazed by adversity. That was it. I lived with these explorers, spending evenings with them in their tents, thawing pemmican hoosh. No evidence, apart from Odell’s testimony, has been found that they climbed higher than the First Step (one of three final stages to the summit) as their spent oxygen cylinders were found shortly below the First Step, and Irvine’s ice axe was found nearby in 1933. They never returned to their camp and died high on Everest.
On 1 May 1999, a US climber, Conrad Anker, found a frozen body at 26,760 ft. on the north face of the mountain. The body was intact. Name tags on the body’s clothing bore the name of G. Leigh Mallory. In October 2024, a National Geographic expedition led by Jimmy Chin discovered a boot containing a foot, wrapped in a sock stitched with the name label A.C. Irvine.
Subsequent searches have not found Irvine’s body or a Kodak camera, known to be in their possession, which could hold the answer as to whether they were on the top of the world 30 years before Hilary. Mallory carried a photograph of his wife, Ruth, which he was going to leave at the summit. When his body was discovered, the photo was missing. I like to think it was left at the summit. Whether it will ever be proven that he reached the top or not, he had climbed to an altitude of at least 28,000 feet in 1924 with clothing and equipment far inferior to what is available today, a remarkable feat.
Mallory took part in the first three British expeditions to Everest in the early 1920s, joining the 1924 Everest expedition believing that at 37, it would be his third and last opportunity to climb the mountain. Mallory’s grandson, also named George, reached the summit of Everest in 1995. He left a picture of his grandfather at the summit citing unfinished business.
It was Mallory with the famous aphorism that, to this day, best summarises the avid climber’s pursuit, quoted as having replied to the question Why do you want to climb Mount Everest? with the retort Because it’s there. These have often been called the most famous three words in mountaineering.
I’ve kept Mallory’s retort in my head for many years, as did President Kennedy, who quoted Mallory in his speech announcing the NASA programme in 1962, and his own words with the same sentiment of ambition.
As Mallory said in one of his final interviews, when trying to explain why he was climbing Everest, I have dreamt since I was a boy of standing atop this mountain, and it’s worth it to risk your life to make a dream come true.
Mallory is one of our last great explorers and a truly ambitious man. Remember this was the 1920s, He had to hike through miles of unchartered Nepalese jungle without a map. He hadn’t even seen Everest until he arrived. He is so revered that the ice-wall on the North Col which must be climbed to summit Everest via the North Route is named after him: the Mallory Step.
Mallory epitomises fierce entrepreneurial ambition and the attitude to succeed. He had focus and clarity on his goals, and a tenacious will-to-win. Starting and running a business is a lot like climbing a mountain for the first time, look at the similarities:
- Searing ambition Entrepreneurs are driven to succeed and grow. They see the bigger picture, set goals and stay committed to achieving them regardless of challenges that arise. Mallory had this in abundance.
- Strong self-belief Entrepreneurs often have a strong and assertive personality, focused and determined. and believe in their ability to achieve. Mallory had the same inner confidence.
- Be a pioneer Mallory had a passionate desire to be the first man on Everest, just as entrepreneurs look to bring new ideas to market. They are pioneers too, in their aspirations and approach to the task and opportunity before them.
- Competitive by nature Successful entrepreneurs thrive on competition. The only way to reach their goals and live up to their self-imposed exprctstions is to be the best they can be. Mallory’s wasn’t competitive with other climbers – but with himself and the mountain before him.
- Highly motivated and energised Mallory was full of energy and highly motivated. Entrepreneurs have a similar high work ethic, restless and always trying to get to where they want to get too.
- Accepting of obstacles Entrepreneurs are on the front line and hear the words it’s never been done, it can’t be done as opportunity. They readjust their path, obstacles are an expected part of the journey. Everest was both a physical and mental obstacle in Mallory’s journey.
Summary. Sometimes if you haven’t got your head up from the startup grind for a while, your vision can get cloudy. Mallory’s story and attitude reminds me that there’s a purpose and a reason for your dedication and hard work: Do stuff because it matters, for the purpose of a creating a story to tell that what you’ve done matters, and that it made a difference. It’s because the challenge exists; because it’s there.
Don’t get lost in startup life’s busy shuffle and the noise. Remember those three words: Because It’s there, that drove George Mallory, possibly the first man to reach the summit of Everest. Mallory reminds me not just to ‘do things’, but to do them with a passion and a purpose bigger than ‘just turning up’. Make it count, where it matters, for yourself.
Mallory was obsessed with conquering Everest. He knew that after two previous attempts the expedition in 1924 would be his last chance. I don’t believe he of all people would have turned around above the Second Step, especially if he was still moving, as Odell described, with considerable alacrity. Once above the Third Step, it seems unthinkable they didn’t make the summit.
Mallory is still on Mount Everest, and he got higher than anybody else before him. The question has always been whether he was going up or coming down – the position of the body suggests that Mallory was climbing down the mountain, rather than up it. I believe George Mallory and Irvine did reach the summit of Everest.
Startup life isn’t as risky to life and limb, but there is no summit or finishing line, the climb just carries on. Make a start, keep reaching out and pushing yourself, and ask yourself why do I want this? – and you have the answer from Mallory: Because it’s there.